A 21-YEAR-OLD man of Lusaka’s Mtendere township has admitted obtaining money by false pretences and personation.

Paul Kawewe is charged with two counts of obtaining money by false pretences and personation.

In count one, it is alleged that Kawewe on July 11, 2021 in Lusaka, falsely represented himself as a businessman and owner of a company called Chanda Brian Two Thousand, an online business operating on Facebook selling shoes and clothes, when in fact not.

In count two, it is alleged that on November 28, 2021, in Lusaka, the accused obtained K3,500 from Musama Mwaba by pretending that he had an iPhone for sale when in fact not.

When the matter came up before magistrate Changa Chitabo, Tuesday, Kawewe pleaded guilty to the charges.

The court could, however, not proceed with the reading of facts and sentencing after State prosecutor Godfrey Mwanino applied to have the charge sheet amended with the possibility of adding more charges.

Magistrate Chitabo adjourned the matter to February 11, 2022, for substitution of the indictment and possible reading of facts and sentencing.

In a statement issued in December last year, Police Spokesperson Rae Hamoonga disclosed that Police working in conjunction with ZICTA managed to apprehend Kawewe and recovered 19 sim cards from him used for scamming people to a tune of K1 million.

“Police working in conjunction with ZICTA managed to apprehend M/ Paul Kawewe aged 22 of Mtendere East and recovered 19 sim cards from him used for scamming people to a tune of One Million Kwacha. The suspect is in custody facing one count of impersonation and five counts of obtaining money by false pretences. He has since been officially charged and arrested for the subject offences,” stated Hamoonga.

“This was after police had received a report of impersonation on 16th December, 2021 from M/ Chanda Brian aged 20 of unknown house number [in] Chalala, a businessman dealing in the supply of clothing and accessories that an unknown person was impersonating him by advertising his products through a fake Instagram page called “Chanda Brian 2000″ and would collect money from unsuspecting members of the public via Airtel money. This occurred between 2019 and 16th December, 2021.”